It's Modern Quilt Month! (2)

We're celebrating Modern Quilt Month at Q.I. This is the second of FIVE posts. According to The Modern Quilt Guild, modern quilts often use bold colors and prints, high contrast, graphic areas of solid color, improvisational piecing, minimalism, and/or expansive negative space. Enjoy!

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Silk Parquetry Impression #2, made and quilted by Joyce Kaiser. 

 Original design.  This piece was created using a grab bag of silk strips from "Leilani Arts".  The raw edge strips were sewn to batik units onto a muslin foundation using Holoshimmer or gold thread. Beading of opposite corners [was] added to enhance the silk rectangles.

Gamma, made and quilted by Maria Barr

This quilt seems to vibrate with motion! Maria Barr says, "[This is] such a cool optical illusion, I almost changed the name to "Warp Speed Ahead"! Pattern source: Devon Iott (Miss Make). 

 Gridlock, made and quilted by Karen G. Fisher 

This quilt appears to glow from within, thanks to the creation of intricate dark-to-light gradients.  Karen G. Fisher says, "Gridlock combines all six "grids" I've designed over several years (five of them are in my book*): Triple Sudoku, Matrix, Miriam's Grid, Triaxial, Graduated, and Herringbone." *Pattern source: Karen Fisher's own book, titled "Easy Grid Quilts".

Embellishing, a controlled color palette, and fussy cutting control the chaos. Above, you can see large beaded spirals; other parts of the quilt (shown below) are embellished with metallic buttons and gold trim. Southwestern design fabrics add to the intricate textures. 

Cool Porte Cochere, made and quilted by Kathy Kutansky

Here is an original quilt showcasing fabrics created through surface design! Kathy Kutansky says, "This spring I took a week long Zoom workshop with Pat Pauly.  Using screens, rubbings and direct painting, I created most of these prints. It's really fun to work with these unusual fabrics."

 Kites over Cabin at Night, made by Russ Beasley, quilted by Kris Neifeld.  

This original black and white quilt is the essence of modern design, forming a tessellation. Russ Beasley only used black & white solids because he "loves simplicity".  He says, "I saw a similar picture on Google Art and thought it would be a great quilt. I configured a template for the kite and the square.  I concluded that partial seams [were] the only way to go. I then decided the rows would need to be constructed from the center out also with partial seams."  

The photo below shows the "kites" that make up the design.  Check out the perfect piecing!

Image credits and awards: Photos were taken at the 2024 Tucson Quilters Guild show. Silk Parquetry Impression #2 won 1st Place in the Art Abstract category, plus a Judge's Choice award. Gridlock won 1st place in the One Person - Large Pieced category. Kites over Cabin at Night won 2nd place in the Modern Quilt category. Cool Porte Cochere won an Honorable Mention.